Samuel hobson



(No Model.)

S. HOBSON.

PORTABLE PENGE.

No. 394,361. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

0606M w v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL HOBSON, or ROCKPORT, INDIANA.

PORTABLE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 394,361, datedDecember 11, 1888.

Application filed August 28, 1888. Serial No. 283,969. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

lle it known that I, SAMUEL IIOBSON, of Rockport, in the county ofSpencer and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulll'l'lPlOVGlllQlllS in Portable Fences; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use it, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings,which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in portable fences; and itconsists in, first, the combination of a groundsill provided with agroove to receive the lower ends of the cleats of two adjoining panels,a block which is secured to one of the cleats, and a block which issecured upon the top of the sill and projects over the block upon thecleat, with a wire loop which extends from the side of one of the cleatsthrough an opening in the other cleat, and a brace provided with a wirewhich catches in the loop at its upper end and in a staple at its lowerend upon the top of the sill; second, the arrangement and combination ofparts, which will be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to provide a portable fence which can beput up and taken down without the trouble of removing a single nail orscrew, and which is sufficiently strong to answer all ordinary purposes.

Figure 1 is a perspective of a sill, the cleats of two adjoining panels,and the brace and wire by which they are secured together. Fig. 2 is aside elevation showing two panels placed at an angle to each other. Fig.3 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 4. is a perspective of the sill usedat a corner. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are detail views of the different parts.

A represents a sill such as is used to support the ends of two adjoiningpanels where they are extending in a line with each other,

This sill has two blocks, S, secured upon, its

and which sill has the transverse groove B formed across its top nearits center, and the transverse groove 0 formed across its top near oneend. Secured upon the top of this sill, so that one end projects aslight distance across the groove 15, is the block I), which serves tocatch over a block, F, which is secured to the lower end of a verticalcleat, G, which forms center.

one end of a panel, II. The panel Il may be formed of two or threevertical cleats and two or more boards, and any suitable number ofwires; or it maybe formed entirely of boards, as may be preferred. I donot limit myself to any specific construction of the. panel, for thismaybe formed in any suitable manner and of any suitable material. \Vheretwo cleats of two adjoining panels come together, one of these cleatsmust be provided with a block, F, upon its lower end to catch under theblock D upon the top of the sill, while the other cleat, I, will beperfectly plain and simply have an opening, J, through it at or near itsAround the clcat G, near its center, is wrapped a wire, Ii, which hasits central portion formed into a loop, a,to extend through the openingJ in the clcat I, for the purpose of binding the two cleats together.The lower ends of the two cleats, being placed side by side in closecontact with each other, rest in the transverse groove B in the sill A,and the block F, by catching under the horizontal block D upon the topof the sill, prevents any vertical movement.

Bearing against the outer side of the cleat I, and resting in the notchO at its lower end, is a brace, O, to the outer side of which is socureda wire, P, which projects beyond the brace O at each end and is formedinto a hook. The hook at the upper end catches in the loop a of the wireL, and the hook at the lower end catches in the staple Q. upon the topof the outer end of the sill. The cleat G is held in position by theblocksD and F, and the cleat I is held by the wire L, the brace O, andwire I, so that they cannot have any vertical movement or becomedisplaced from the sill. The lower ends of the two cleats just fill thegroove B in the top of the sill, and hence they have no lateralmovementwhatever.

here a square corner is to be turned, the sill A is done away with andthe sill R used.

top and extending in a line therewith, a suitable space being leftbetwecn them. Just beyond the inner ends of these two blocks S issecured a block, T,which extends transversely across the top of the sillR, and the space which is left between the three blocks is T- shaped. Acleat, I, catches in between the two blocks S, and the wire L is placedaround this cleat, so that its loop projects in a line with the panel ofthe fence, instead of proj ecting at right angles thereto, as when thesill A is used. The panel which is to extend at right angles and formthe corner has the cleat U upon its end, provided with the two blocks Vat its upper end, and these blocks catch upon opposite sides of the topof the cleat I. The lower ends of the two cleats are held in theT-shaped recess between the blocks S and T, while the upper ends of thecleats are held together by the two blocks V. A brace, 0, provided withthe wire I is then made to catch against the transverse block IV acrossthe sill R, and the lower end of the wire 1? is made to hook in astaple, X, which projects from the top of the block. The upper end ofthe wire I is made to catch in the loop which projects through anopening in the cleat U, as already described.

\Vhen it is desired to remove any one of the sections or panels of thefence, it is only necessary to detach the end of the wire P from theloops, and then slip the braces a little to one side, and then the panelcan be lifted out of place. In this way the entire fence can be put upand taken down without removing a single screw or nail.

Having thus described my invention, I clai1n 1. The combination of thesill A, provided with the transverse groove B, a notch, O, the block D,and a staple, with the cleat G of one panel provided with a block, F, atits'lower end, the wire L, the cleat I of the adjoining panel, providedwith a hole, J, and the brace 0, provided with the wire P, substantiallyas shown.

2. The combination of the sill R, provided with the blocks S, T, and WV,a cleat, I, provided with a wire, L, the cleat U of the adjoining panel,provided with the blocks V, a hole through which the wire L passes, anda brace, 0, provided with a wire, P, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL HOBSON. \Vitnesses:

CHARLES ZUCKRU'GEL, ELBERT M. SWAN.

